Unaltered Alternate Universe
by ParadoxicallyCorrect
Summary: Many alternate universes concurrently exist. Doc & Marty visit one of them.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Because you know I don't own Back to the Future. This story is my own.**

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><p><em>Saturday, November 2, 1985<em>

_7:28 AM PST_

_"Take me away, I don't mind.. but you better promise me I'll be back in time!" _

Marty jolted awake as his alarm blared on. He glanced up at his clock and wondered why the damn thing woke him up so early. Trying to close his eyes again proved hard to do, as they were already acclimated to the bright sunlight beaming from outside. He sat up groggily, yawned and stretched. He had a hell-of-a dream last night.

He got up and went to the bathroom to wash his face. He had some crazy nightmare that he was disappearing from reality again, only this time in 1985.

He walked through the halls of his still-unfamiliar house, glancing at the framed pictures hung up on the walls of the family he once knew to be as petty losers who were in this timeline, more happy and successful.

One picture caught his attention; he stopped and took a second glance at it. It was a picture of him and his siblings; it looked to be a more recent picture, presumably taken last year. Something about the picture was strikingly similar, and Marty had to ponder about it for a few seconds before it finally clicked.

He strolled back into his room and took out the same picture of him and his siblings from the other timeline, the pre-altered one from before he went to 1955.

He walked back up to the picture and compared the two. They were ironically taken in the same place, in the same lighting, and they were standing in the same positions.

The only difference was eye-catching: Dave, his older brother, was now dressed in a casual business attire and Linda, his older sister, was now dressed in a plain, yet expensive-looking dress. On the other hand, he himself was the only one who hadn't seemed to have changed much between the two pictures; he was wearing similar clothes, a collared shirt and jeans. He shuddered at a thought: in this timeline, was he the loser of the family?

He stared at the unaltered photo and pondered for a minute. How could they have not disappeared from the photo? He could understand why he himself wouldn't have faded, as he was, after all, the same person as the one in the photo. But his unhappy and insignificant siblings were no longer to be, after the changes he's made in 1955. Why was the picture still intact, bright as day?

Marty was so preoccupied in his thoughts that he didn't hear the door behind him open, and footsteps walk up from behind him.

"What are you looking at there, son?"

Marty jumped, nearly colliding into his father, as he quickly hid the unaltered picture from his prying eyes. George frowned.

"What's wrong?" he asked, in a mildly confused tone.

Marty quickly shook his head. "Nothing, Dad."

Thankfully, before George could further interrogate, Lorraine appeared from behind the door.

"Oh, Marty, you're already awake? We thought at this hour you'd still be asleep." she commented, to which Marty could only respond with a sly smile.

"Well listen, Dave is at the office and Linda went out for breakfast with Mark." George explained.

"Mark?"

"Her current boyfriend." George replied.

"Ah."

"Your mother and I made reservations to _La Lune _for breakfast, but since you're awake, would you like to come with us? It's a well-known restaurant, but it's prices aren't exactly popular, so we could always just call them up right now and make reservations for three." George finished explaining.

Marty observed his parents' expressions for a moment. Neither of them seemed particularly willing nor objected to the idea of taking him along. It took a few seconds for him to realize it, but his parents were planning on going on a little date for the whole morning. He decided that it would be best not to interfere, and let them spend their time alone, especially since this new image of his parents actually enjoying their time together was remarkable and much better than the other version of his parents, who'd be perfectly content to spend $30 on meals and eat separately.

"Uh, no, it's okay. You guys go ahead, I'll just stay here and grab whatever I can find." Marty dismissed his father's offer.

"Are you sure?" his mother asked worriedly.

"Yeah." Marty replied. "There's no need to spend more money. Besides, if I can't find anything to eat here, I'll just go out and get something less... extravagant."

George patted him on the shoulder and smiled. "Well, alright then, son. We'll be leaving now, and we'll be back in an hour or two. See you later."

He walked ahead as Lorraine gave him a kiss to the cheek. "Bye, Marty. We'll see you later. Take care."

After his parents left, Marty absentmindedly walked to the kitchen and rummaged through whatever he could find. This version of his family seemed to eat more healthily, exemplified by the lack of alcohol and abundance of junk food in the fridge. None of the foods around seemed particularly appealing, so Marty settled on a bowl of _Apple Jacks _and a banana before heading back to his room, where he relaxed back in bed, picked up a book, quickly lost interest, and after a few more minutes slowly fell back asleep.

It was the loud ringing of his telephone that jolted him awake once more.

He sighed and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Good morning, Marty!"

_Doc? _

"Doc?"

"Yes Marty, it's me. Oh," Doc paused for a few seconds, and Marty could hear the simultaneous ringing from his clocks in the background. "I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"

"No, you're good, Doc." Marty assured. Curiosity dominated his tired state-of-mind, anyways. "You're back? In 1985? When did you get back? I thought you were going to stay in 1885 permanently, what about the time machine?"

"Quite a surprise, isn't it?" Doc replied happily. "My arrival back to 1985. The family stayed behind, as the future still is quite a shock for them. Einie stayed behind, as well. You know how the boys cherish him."

Marty smiled.

"The time machine! That reminds me, I've been busy conducting an idea for a new experiment back in 1885 and I wanted to come here and put it to the test. Do you think you'd be able to come visit me right now, in my lab?"

"No problem Doc, I'll be right there." Marty replied, now feeling a wave of energy as he stood up. "See you soon."

With that, both lines clicked and Marty quickly put on a clean set of clothes, grabbed his skateboard and headed out.

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><p><em>Saturday, November 2, 1985<em>

_8:30 AM PST _

When Marty arrived at Doc's place, he found him rambling softly to himself whilst walking back and forth in a quick pace.

Marty couldn't help but smile. _Same ol' Doc._

He took his headphones off his ears and leaned his skateboard against a table. "Yo, Doc!"

Doc turned to look at him, his former concentrated expression quickly morphing into a happy one. "Marty!" He walked up to him and pulled him for a quick hug. "How have you been? It feels like I haven't seen you in ten years!"

"Well, 1885 is a long way back, Doc." Marty joked.

"Yes, well. I've spent countless days and nights devising a new idea regarding the notion of time and the space-time continuum and I think this may be my next major breakthrough in my 55 years of scientific work! Allow me to demonstrate. I have it in the next room." Doc explained, leading him into the next room.

Doc grabbed two watches from his desk, both of which looked way more complex and computerized than most. One watch was larger and looked more technical than the other. He handed Marty the smaller, less complicated-looking one.

"Welcome to my latest experiment. Temporal experiment #2." Doc grinned proudly.

Marty stared down at the watch he was holding curiously. "Well, it's a watch..?"

"These are similar to your standard television remote control and modern-day wristwatch, yet by all means far more exceptional in terms of versatility. I've programmed these babies closely to how I programmed the time circuits for the time machine, of course with the exception of the requirement of nuclear energy and other assets to produce the necessary results in order for us to achieve-"

"English, Doc!" Marty complained, getting slightly tired of Doc's scientific rambling.

"Basically Marty, we're going to have a chance to visit diverse realities. Different dimensions. Dimensions that exist alongside our own." Doc finished with a grin.

"What? You mean like alternate universes, or something?"

"Precisely. And I've crafted the ability to do so into the form of watches for a significant reason. One, for the purpose of quick accessibility and another, for general aesthetics. Indeed, ever since that incident of Biff stealing the time machine, I've conceptualized more efficient methods of temporal travel. So long as we're the ones wearing these, the risks of others traveling through time and different universes will no longer be in the wrong hands - or wrists, for that matter. Ha ha." Doc laughed to himself.

Marty was amazed. _Traveling through different universes? This oughta be interesting._


	2. Chapter 2

"Man, this is bitchin' Doc." Marty was still in awe as he strapped the watch on, replacing the basic, calculator one he was currently wearing. "So how does this work?"

Doc quickly strapped his watch on. "These watches are synchronized, so there won't be any accidental case of one of us traveling to different realities away from each other. You see these two buttons?"

There were two small buttons on the left side of the watches, unlabeled. There were also two small buttons on the right side.

"It's quite simple. This one represents _Input_; for example, let's say I were to press this one." Doc was explaining about the top button on the left side. "Two options would pop-up on the screen, the top would read _Next _and the bottom would read _Previous_. This is what allows us to progress and regress from the current universe in which we happen to be in. I would tap the top button on the right side here," Doc now pointed to the top button on the right side. "To select _Next, _and the bottom one here to select _Previous."_

"Other than that, the watch displays mostly the time, as well as which universe we would currently be in. To simplify the complexity of traveling to different realities, I've set it to categorize the different universes we travel to in numbered format, for example the first universe we would travel to would be labeled as _AU-1, _and so forth." Doc finished explaining.

"What does this one do?" Marty asked, referring to the bottom button on the left side.

"This one represents _Output; _this one takes us back to this universe."

"So it's kind of like a _Home _button?"

Doc nodded.

"All right!" Marty clapped his hands, now feeling excited. "Let's do this!"

"Just a precaution, Marty. Remember that we are going to be the very first ones to test this experiment, so this first experience may not be exactly precise." Doc warned. "I don't want this experiment to become disorderly in which we were to explore multiple universes at once. Who knows what could happen, in any event in which problems might occur, who knows what we can or can not do? For now, we're only going to explore one dimension."

"One is better than none, Doc."

"I want you to understand that no matter what we say or do in another universe, may not affect what happens to us here, in this universe." Doc assured. "But you still have to be very careful. We're very vulnerable people carrying very vulnerable equipment, and neither of us know how the people in an alternate universe may react. We must be very careful not to let them get their hands on these."

Marty grinned as he observed his watch. "But they are kind of cool-looking. I don't see why anybody _wouldn't _want to play with this."

"Just don't let anybody touch it." Doc warned, then softened. "Very well then. Ready to go?"

"You bet I am!" Marty was pumped, then paused. "Wait. Doc, my parents will be home any minute and they didn't know I left. They'll get all on my nerves and give me a hard time if I'm gone too long. How long will we be gone for?"

"No worries, Marty. There are specific components of the watches that automatically record the time we leave this universe. At just a push of the _Output _button, we'll arrive back at this exact moment. It'll be like we never left." Doc assured him.

"Alright, let's go!" Marty grinned. With that, Doc pressed the buttons on his watch and the two instantaneously vanished into thin air.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: To anyone who's played/know the BTTF video game, I hope you enjoy my little reference. :)**

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><p><em>Saturday, November 2, 1985<em>

_8:45 AM PST_

_*Zap!*_

A loud noise screeched in the otherwise drop-dead silent abandoned space in Doc's empty lab. Marty and Doc suddenly appeared in the same positions they were standing in.

Marty eyed the place curiously. Everything looked exactly the same, right down to the papers and other various items scattered on the tables. "Did we make it? Are we in some other universe?"

Doc glanced down at his watch. _11/2/85; 8:45:00 AM; AU-1_, it read. He glanced around.

"Indeed." he explored the area cautiously. "It's a coincidence. Everything seems to be the same, nothing appears to have changed."

"Who's out there..?!"

Marty turned to see an elderly, gray-haired woman peering at them from behind a half-opened door, with a scowl on her face. "You two! Who are you?"

"Huh? Who are you?" Marty asked in confusion.

"You two are on private property, my garage! The laws distinctly state that it's illegal for anybody to enter another one's premises without permission. It's a fact, look it up!" the woman practically screamed at them. "Now get out before I call the police!"

"_Your _garage? But it can't be?" Marty contended, until Doc pulled him away.

"That's right, leave!" the woman yelled after them. Doc took one quick glance back at her as they exited the garage. "Hooligans..." he heard her mutter.

"Who was she, Doc? She sounds kind of familiar to me." Marty commented. Doc turned and noticed that the garage door was covered by a thick layer of chains.

"Beats me. I've never seen her before in all my life but as far as I know, this is still my lab, even in this universe."

Marty looked at him. "How do you know that?"

Doc pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it. "Remember this?"

Marty took a closer look. It was the drawing of the flux capacitor.

"I've never shown this drawing to anybody except you. There's no possible way anyone could have taken it." Doc explained. "No matter. Come on, let's explore this version of Hill Valley; see what else is different in this universe."

As they walked, they definitely noticed the differences. There were no cars around, just people on odd-looking, casual bicycles. Every person they saw walking on the street was dressed in very classy clothing, including babies in strollers. Litter was not at all evident on the ground, and not a trace of graffiti was in sight.

In his distraction Marty accidentally bumped into someone else. "Oops, excuse me."

"Oh, no. Pardon _me_, sir." the man apologized loudly, standing tall but looking at the ground. He bowed and tipped his hat off to Marty in a very sophisticated manner. Marty, unsure of how to respond, simply nodded back politely.

Marty took a quick glance back at the man before turning to Doc. "Uh, Doc. Are we really in the 80's?"

Doc smiled softly. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I feel like I'm back in 1955. You know, since everything looks so.. clean. And the people! I mean, look at them." he nodded towards a young woman passing by them wearing a long, pink formal dress. "Everyone's dressed up so, you know.. modestly. And that guy I bumped into, he seemed extremely polite, like he was saluting me or something."

"Well, I suppose can see where you're coming from. But it's possible that not everybody conforms to societal norms. Remember that strange woman from my lab? This version of Hill Valley is not at all atrocious, but neither is our Hill Valley, for that matter. Both of which are at least better than _Hell _Valley." Doc frowned at the memory.

"Whoa! Check that out, Doc!" Marty exclaimed as ran closer to the Texaco sign as they neared the Courthouse Square. "Gas is only 10 cents a gallon!"

"Amazing." Doc whispered as he gazed around the town square.

"But then again, what's the point if nobody drives around here anyways?" Marty muttered to himself. "Maybe next time we should bring our cars here and just buy shitloads of gas."

"Marty, look at that!" Doc pointed in front of him as a familiar tune played loudly. The clock tower displayed that it was now 9:00 AM.

"Hey, it's working again!"

Doc nodded as they both watched the clock in nostalgia for a moment.

"Does that mean the storm never happened?"

"I suppose. Either that or they've restored it in this universe."

Marty looked around and chuckled. "What else is new? We've got to check everything out, Doc! Hey wait," he paused. "Do you think there's another one of me here?"

For the first time, Doc didn't have an immediate answer. He paused for a few seconds to think. "It's plausible. Regardless, anything what we say or do in this universe has no effect on ours. It wouldn't hurt to find out."

They looked around and spotted a _Public Telephone_, which was conveniently located in _Lou's Diner,_ or _Lou's Fitness Aerobics Center_ in their universe. They went inside.

_"Rated #1 Diner in Northern California." _a sign pasted on the wall wrote.

They searched the back for the phonebooth, which was strikingly similar to the one in _Lou's Cafe _from 1955. They searched for _McFly_ and found plenty of names, however, Marty couldn't pin-point his.

"Unfortunately I don't have my Polaroid on me. We could've snapped a picture and visited any one of these addresses." Doc said.

Marty ripped the page from the book, which teared loudly than it should have. Everybody in the diner went completely silent and stared at them.

"Gentlemen! Yes, you two, in the phonebooth!" a tall, clean-cut man in his late thirties called to them. He was standing behind the counter, and looked to be the new owner of the diner. "What do you think you're doing?"

Marty hid the torn page behind his back. Unfortunately, the man already saw it in his hand. "Don't try to hide that piece of torn paper behind your back, sonny. You rip it, you pay for it!"

Marty frowned as he and Doc stepped out from the phonebooth. They walked up to the counter. "Sure, fine. How much?"

"5 bucks!" the man behind the counter demanded, as everybody in the cafe silently ooh'ed.

"5 bucks?!" Marty repeated, annoyed. "It's a piece of paper! Gas is cheaper than this for Christ's sake!"

"It's a piece of paper clearly of some significance for you to rip it out from my special $25 phone book. Do you think paper grows on trees, kid? Pay up!"

"A-" Marty stared at the page for a few seconds, sighed, then slowly pulled out a $5 bill from his pocket. "Fine, here's your $5."

Immediately after that, Marty and Doc quickly exited the diner. Marty looked back.

"5 dollars, my ass." Marty grumbled in frustration. Doc patted Marty on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Marty. At least now we have the addresses of your potential family members. Did you find anyone you know?"

"Hm, let's see. I didn't think there'd be this many." Marty searched through the long vertical lists of _McFly_s on the page. "I don't know any of these people. I can't even find my name."

"You don't know any of them? At all?" Doc asked, inspecting through the names.

"Yeah." Marty confirmed. "But there is one name, similar to my dad's." he lined up the person's name to their address.

"Jorge McFly - 109 Summit Drive."


	4. Chapter 4

"Jorge McFly, huh." Doc commented as he stared at the name. "Maybe he's adopted?"

"I don't know but we gotta check this out, Doc." Marty replied, and turned to the next person who walked past them. "Excuse me ma'am, do you know where 'Summit Drive' is?"

The short-haired brunette turned around.

"Linda!" Marty shrieked in surprise.

The beautiful, confused young woman just stared back at him silently.

"You're Linda McFly... right?"

She narrowed her eyes. "That's right. How do you know my name?"

"What?" Marty asked. "You don't know me?"

Linda frowned as she stared at him for a few seconds. "Nope. I've never seen you before in my life. Who are you?"

Marty muttered something to himself as he rubbed the back of his head. "..brother!"

"What?"

He looked up and smiled. "I... know your brother."

"Which brother?" she asked.

"Uh, Dave...?"

"Oh! Are you Dave's friend?" she raised her eyebrows curiously.

"Uh... yeah."

"Really? Why didn't you say so earlier?" Linda's face relaxed slightly. "He's at the office right now, but I think he'll be home for lunch by 12. Did he invite you over?"

"Well, actually..." Marty started slowly.

Linda's eyes shifted to Doc, who was standing silently behind Marty. "Who are you, sir?"

"My uncle!" Marty abruptly spoke up. "He's my uncle, uh... Emmett."

Linda nodded and shook Doc's hand in a formal manner. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too."

"What's your name?" Linda turned to Marty.

"Michael." Marty replied as Doc stared at him bewilderingly. "Michael Fox."

"_Michael Fox_. Where have I heard that name before...?" Linda pondered aloud to herself. She looked at him closely again. "Wait a minute. Are you _that _Michael?"

Marty was unsure of what to say, but Linda thankfully continued.

"It has to be you. You're like Dave's best and only friend!" she uttered happily, to Marty's amusement. "Nice to finally meet you!"

Marty shook her hand. "It's nice to finally meet you too."

"Dave used to talk about you all the time during dinner. Thanks for being friends with my loser brother. Without you, he would be such a loner." she rolled her eyes, but was smiling lightheartedly as she said it. "You have to meet our family, especially my mom. I've never told Dave this, but I don't think Mom actually believes he has a friend. You gotta come over to our house."

She spoke the latter sentence so quickly that Marty could only pick up a few words. "Our house?"

Linda nodded. "Yeah, we live on Summit Drive."

"Summit Drive?" Marty repeated, then remembered. "Wait, do you happen to know a Jor-"

"Come on." Linda interrupted him with a grin, not seeming to notice he was in the middle of a question. "You seem like a nice person, and you're so easy to talk to. And you're Dave's friend, which makes you pretty much like family. You should really come over to our house for breakfast, since it's only a few blocks away." she looked at Doc. "You're welcome as well, Mr. Fox."

She walked ahead of them before they could respond.

As they walked down the street, Doc nudged him. "How did you know?"

"About Michael? Dave used to always blab to us about him too, and we've never seen him in person either. Crazy that it's the same in this universe, since in our universe they became friends through some spontaneous, freak accident. And I couldn't tell her my name was 'Marty' because when we leave, she'll tell Dave that I came. Apparently I don't exist in this universe, so what are the chances of him knowing a 'Marty?'" Marty explained.

Doc processed all of that thoughtfully. "Insightful thinking, Marty. But what are you going to do if your brother shows up and doesn't recognize you?"

"Don't worry about it, Doc. I'll make sure we're gone before he gets there."

"Here we are!" Linda suddenly called out to them, as they approached the front porch of a beige, two-story house. She unlocked the front door and held it open for them. "Welcome."

"Mom, we have visitors!" she shouted towards the staircase as she walked into the living room.

The inside of the house was much bigger than it perceived to be on the outside; it was enormous. Marty gawked around the room in amazement. The front room was basically the size of his living room, dining room, and kitchen combined. It looked like the kind of room he would find in a model home. On top of all of that, the ambiance of the room was incredibly welcoming, enhanced with beautiful furniture, and the smell of warm cinnamon circulated around the entire house.

"Come now, make yourselves at home." Linda smiled as she patted the couch. "And can you two wait here for just a second? I need to head upstairs real quick."

After she left, Marty took the time to observe around the room once more. "Jesus! This living room looks better than our whole house has ever looked, even after all the changes."

Doc nodded in agreement. "This is a beautiful room, indeed."

"Makes me wonder how well-off my parents are in this universe." Marty commented with a content expression. "I mean..."

He stood up and walked over to the television set with an NES connected to it. "Look at this. Damn! And to think this just came out a couple of weeks ago."

"I'm just saying he is old enough to do it himself."

Marty was immediately alerted by the sudden voice, as he turned around. Linda was suddenly in the room, and closely trailing behind her was another woman. However, as she became more apparent, Marty's eyes unconsciously widened from shock.

"Mom, this is Michael Fox. The name sounds familiar, doesn't it?" Linda said to the woman.

Marty stared at his mother. He felt awkward thinking about it, but even he had to admit she looked absolutely gorgeous. She had her hair up and looked to be dressed undoubtedly well, despite just wearing a light blue blouse and a simple mid-length skirt. Her natural beauty appeared to pop out, and she had only a small amount of makeup dabbed upon her face to support it. It was evident she radiated genuine happiness and youth, just like her teenage self from 1955. Marty was still in doubt, but if this were really 1985 and if his mom was currently 47 in this universe, she certainly did not look like it at all.

Lorraine smiled warmly and shook Marty's hand. "Michael Fox! It's a pleasure to finally meet you! My name is Lorraine. I'm Linda and David's mother."

"Nice to meet you." Marty said.

"From what I've heard, you seem to be a very respectable young man. And I want to thank you for being such a good influence on my son." Lorraine nodded to Marty in approval.

"Yeah well, Dave's already a great and respectable guy on his own." he replied with a hint of amusement in his voice that went unnoticed by Lorraine.

"And this is Mr. Emmett Fox, Michael's uncle." Linda introduced Doc, who stood next to Marty.

Doc held out his hand to Lorraine. "Hello. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Fox." Lorraine shook Doc's hand with a smile. "So, you're Michael's uncle? I can definitely see the resemblance between you two." she commented, glancing between the both of them. Marty and Doc secretly exchanged amused glances.

"How would you two like to stay for brunch? I'm making deviled-egg sandwiches and berry-filled crepes. But if you want something else, we also have fruit and toasted bagels with cream cheese or butter." Lorraine offered.

"Sure. That sounds great." Marty answered with a grin. "We'll stay for brunch. And thank you."

"It's no problem. It should all be ready in about 30 minutes or so. And Linda," Lorraine turned to face her daughter. "Please give them a little tour of the house. Also, please tell Aaron to clean his room. For the millionth time."

"Sure thing, Mom." Linda replied. Lorraine nodded at Marty and Doc before disappearing into the kitchen.

"Who's Aaron?" Marty asked.

"He's my other brother, younger. He's 14." Linda replied, then stared at him with a confused look. "Hasn't Dave ever mentioned him before?"

"He has, it's just.. I tend to forget things, really easily." Marty replied hesitantly. "Uh, Dave hasn't mentioned him in a while."

"Oh. Okay then..." Linda answered slowly, then smiled. "Come on. I'll show you guys around."

She led them upstairs, where they were immediately greeted by another large living room. The room looked as elegant as the one downstairs, complete with another television set, a small polished wooden table, a couch and three cushioned chairs surrounding the television. There were also plenty of paintings hung up on the wall, Marty noticed.

"As you can guess this is our upstairs living room. My brothers and I hang around here a lot and watch TV, but most of the time, it's Aaron hogging the remote." she rolled her eyes. "Look over there."

She led them over to one which was laminated carefully inside a plastic frame. It contained a simple yet dynamic painting of two people, a man and a woman, holding hands. It looked to be during the night, as they faced each other on a small boat, with the moon closely illuminating their combined silhouette which reflected onto the water. It was beautifully painted yet looked to be painted onto a simple 15" by 11" piece of paper. Marty then noticed the initials _A.P. _written on the lower right-hand side.

"This is a very compelling painting, Linda." Doc commented with a smile. "It's simple yet has a special charisma to it."

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Linda replied happily. "It's so well-painted, and an original too!"

"By _A.P.?" _Marty offered.

"Yeah," Linda nodded. "Aaron painted this."

"What?"

They all turned to see a rather short teenage boy appear from behind one of the bedroom doors. He looked as if he had slept in his clothes from the day before, as he was wearing an unkempt blue collared shirt with regular blue jeans. He had short, slightly wavy brown hair and was staring at them with a dumbfounded expression. Marty stared back at him in complete awe. The boy reminded him so much of, well... himself.

"Aaron! Come here and greet our guests, Michael and Mr. Emmett Fox." Linda called to him.

Aaron yawned and slowly walked over to where they were standing. "Hi."

"Hey," Marty greeted him with a small smile. "I'm Michael. Nice to meet you."

He held out his hand, to which Aaron just stood there coldly in response. Linda elbowed him.

"Nice to meet you too." he took Marty's hand and shook it without making eye contact.

Linda elbowed him again, this time giving him a stern look. "Be polite!"

"Sorry."

Linda sighed, then gave Marty and Doc an apologetic look. "I'm sorry. Aaron can be a bit rude sometimes. Please excuse him."

"I'm not rude!" Aaron objected.

"Everything is quite alright." Doc assured Linda.

Linda turned to Aaron, who was frowning towards the ground. "Now say hello to Mr. Fox."

Aaron looked directly at Doc. "Hi. Nice to meet you, Mr. Fox." he said more loudly, albeit sounding slightly forced.

"Nice to meet you too, Aaron. I'm Michael's uncle." Doc shook his hand.

Aaron stared at him confoundedly, but Linda stopped him from saying anything. "Aaron, you recognize the name 'Michael Fox', right? Dave used to always talk about him."

"Oh yeah." Aaron said casually. "So you're the one he always hangs around with. How come we've never seen you before?"

"Uh, well we always hang out at the park, and we're there for so long that it always gets dark before either of us realize it. So we usually just go home right after." Marty shrugged nonchalantly.

A brief silence followed, so Linda turned to painting in front of them. "Tell them about your painting, Aaron."

Aaron grinned. "I painted it last year. It was a gift for our parents' anniversary. I used the new paint set they got me for my 13th birthday, and it only took me an hour to finish!"

"Sounds like you had quite some motivation, Aaron." Doc commented with a nod.

"Wait. You're _A.P._?" Marty asked, referring to the initials inscribed on the painting.

"Well no shit, I just said I painted this." Aaron replied rather rudely. Linda elbowed him again, harder this time. "Keep acting like a smart-ass and I'll have a nice conversation with Mom about all the not-so-innocent things you hide in your room." she muttered to him.

Marty ignored Aaron's tone. "Well, what does the 'P' stand for then?"

Aaron sighed. "It stands for my last name."

"But, isn't your last name 'McFly'?"

"No. My last name is 'Parker'."


	5. Chapter 5

"Parker?" Marty echoed bewilderingly. "Your last name is _Parker_?"

Aaron frowned. "Yeah. Why?"

Marty looked at Linda. "But aren't you guys siblings?"

"We are. We just have different last names." Linda replied with an unreadable expression.

Marty opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by Lorraine's cheerful voice calling them downstairs. Linda and Aaron immediately turned.

Marty lightly held Linda's arm back. "Wait-"

"Yeah?" she asked. Marty frowned in confusion.

_How can his last name be 'Parker' and why is yours 'McFly'? Where's Dad?_

He shook his head then shrugged. "Uh, nevermind."

She frowned as well then followed Aaron down the stairs. Marty turned to Doc, who had been silently observing their conversation.

"Oh this is heavy, Doc. I mean, what are the odds that his last name's the same as Jen's? Do you think they actually might be related in this universe?" Marty chuckled in amusement. "Wouldn't that be a hell-of-a crazy fate."

Doc squeezed his shoulder as he headed towards the stairs. "I'm not sure Marty, but we should follow them, otherwise they might become suspicious if we're up here for too long."

When they arrived in the kitchen, they found two empty seats next to Linda. Lorraine and Aaron were seated across from them. On the table, there were two plate fulls of delicious-looking egg sandwiches and fruity crepes. There was also a stack of freshly-toasted bagels on another plate with containers of cream cheese and butter on the side. Lorraine stood up and picked another plate off the counter that contained five banana muffins.

Lorraine smiled happily. "Dig in everybody. I hope you enjoy."

"Our mom always knows how to make the best meals." Aaron bragged to Marty.

They ate in silence for the next few minutes. Marty chowed down his egg sandwich and crepe at near lightning speed. Doc, on the other hand, was silently systematizing his thoughts as he chewed his bagel at a more moderate tempo.

Lorraine finished swallowing a small piece of her crepe before standing up. "What would you guys like to drink?"

"Orange juice please." Linda and Aaron answered simultaneously.

"Jinx!" Aaron quickly shrieked as he knocked on the table. "You owe me a soda."

Linda rolled her eyes. "Oh grow up."

Lorraine looked at Marty and Doc as she poured orange juice into two cups. "What about you two?"

"I'll take a coffee, please." Doc said.

"And I'll just have a water, please." Marty spoke up.

Lorraine brought the two cups of orange juice and water to the table first, then picked a mug from the cupboard and poured the brewed coffee into it. "Would you like sugar, Mr. Fox?"

Doc stood up and smiled. "Oh, I'll get it. Thank you."

Lorraine nodded and handed him a few packets of sugar and the creamer from the fridge. She walked to the table and sat back down, and glanced at the clock as she picked up her fork. "What time did David say he was going to be here?"

"By 12." Linda replied. "But he'll probably get here sooner when he finds out that Michael's here."

Lorraine looked at Marty. "Does he know you're here?"

Marty finished swallowing a piece of egg before he answered. "Uh, no. I was planning on surprising him."

Lorraine looked generally pleased and resumed eating. After a minute, Marty's curiosity and puzzlement suddenly sparked again.

"So, yeah... what's your last name?" he casually spoke up to Lorraine.

Linda and Aaron turned to Marty and stared at him. Lorraine's expression also changed.

"I beg your pardon?" she asked in confusion.

Marty scratched his head uncomfortably before replying. "What's your last name? You know, if you don't mind me asking."

"You don't know our last name? I mean, I don't want to sound condescending or all, but you and David have been friends for so long-"

"I know, it's just..." Marty stammered. "It's just that until today I've never realized why Linda and Aaron have different last names, so it kind of confused me. Dave's never really talked about it either."

Lorraine frowned. "Well, alright."

"Shouldn't you know the reason anyways?" Aaron spoke up in a rude tone.

"Aaron!" Lorraine scolded him then sighed, and reverted her attention back to Marty. "Our last name is _Parker, _but it's a little different for Linda and David. Linda and David, and Aaron have different fathers."

Marty's eyes widened.

Doc arrived back to the table with his coffee and sat down.

Linda cleared her throat. "I think you should explain a bit further, Mom."

Lorraine seemed to be preoccupied with an ambiguous point on the table as she nodded and continued.

"You see, I married a man named George McFly, in 1960. He was my high school and college sweetheart, and the first man I truly loved... well, aside from my father of course. He is David and Linda's biological father. David was born in 1963, and in 1966 Linda was born.

Oh... the times back then were so simple. David and Linda were really close to George, especially David, and they bonded together all the time. George's writing career had just started to blossom as he published several successful short stories, while I managed to hold a steady job as a recreation center owner. We couldn't be any happier."

Marty nodded as he listened in curiosity.

"It was early 1967, however, when our marriage started to become rocky. Our first fight was over something completely out of proportion... I guess we were both just really tired at the time. But after that fight, we began disagreeing about every other small, frivolous thing, which of course led to a lot of pointless arguments. We could rarely ever come to a consensus."

She paused for a moment.

"And we never could settle those constant disagreements..."

She paused again, and they waited patiently for her to continue.

After another (silent) minute, an awkward conversation ensued between Doc and Linda.

Lorraine, on the other hand, was silent and baffled as her memory suddenly rewinded to one night after one of her and George's arguments:

_George, hair tousled and fatigued, sighed tiredly as he climbed into their bed. "Well, I think we've had enough for one evening."_

_She sighed as well and also settled herself into the bed. "I agree."_

_"Goodnight."_

_"Goodnight."_

_There was a prolonged silence after that. She assumed he fell asleep, but was mistaken as he suddenly stirred. She was startled as he then pulled her close and sighed uneasily._

_"What happened to us?" he mumbled softly. __"Why do we keep fighting like this?"_

_She didn't answer, and he suddenly hugged her tightly._

_"I love you so much Lorraine..." he murmured into her ear. __"More than you can ever imagine; I always will, no matter how many times we argue. And I know that for a fact, destiny brought us together, in some crazy way."_

_She could feel the light moisture coming from his tears stream down his face as continued. "But, if we keep fighting like this, then how are we ever going to survive?"_

_He sighed heavily, and there was another prolonged silence._

_He kissed the top of her head, and suddenly she found herself fighting back tears as he leaned his chin softly onto her hair._

_"Lorraine... please forgive me."_

She abruptly stopped herself from continuing the memory any longer. She quickly wiped her eyes and averted her gaze back up, only to see Marty still observing her with a concerned expression.

"What's wrong?" he asked her carefully.

"-they ended up divorcing in June of 1968." she overheard Linda finish explaining to Doc quietly.

She reverted her attention back to Marty and let out an assuring, yet noticeably forced smile. "It's nothing, Michael. But thank you for your concern."

"I'm really sorry." he apologized honestly. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

"Not at all, Michael. You were just curious." she reassured him. "Besides, it's all in the past. And that's something you can't change."

"Yeah... that's right." Marty muttered to himself.

"So your new last name is _Parker_?" Doc suddenly asked gently.

Lorraine nodded and took a breath before answering. "That's right. A year after George and I divorced, I met a man named Jack Parker, who is Aaron's biological father. He's at work right now, and he's a CPA for a small accounting firm. Well we first met at the recreation center. He told me he used to play tennis in high school but never had the chance to play anymore, so we decided to play one quick match against each other. It was a great game; I beat him and he challenged me to a rematch." she started to smile warmly.

"Later that evening he offered to buy me dinner at a local restaurant. We had a wonderful time and started a relationship soon after. Oh, he would always take me on so many nice dates, from picnics by the lake to late-night walks down the beach... it was so romantic." she gushed, to which Aaron made a face. "We got married in October, 1970, and Aaron was born the following year."

Marty smiled softly seeing his mother's changed expression. "Well, I'm glad everything worked out for you."

Aaron stood up and walked over to the sink to rinse his plate. "Yeah. Mom and Dad are such cheeseballs."

"Hey," Lorraine protested lightheartedly. "If we weren't, then you never would have been born."

Marty chuckled softly to himself at the vague familiarity of the remark as Linda spoke up. "Yeah, Aaron. You should be thankful that they are. They love each other... enough to openly show it, I mean, unlike some other parents I know that don't even have anything in common or do anything together."

Marty sighed and glanced down at his watch. To his surprise, it was already 11:55. He looked at Doc, and signaled that they had to leave.

"Uh, pardon me...?" he spoke up, interrupting the ongoing conversation between Lorraine, Linda, and Aaron. Aaron took this opportunity to leave the kitchen as Lorraine and Linda turned to him.

"I'm really sorry, but I just remembered that my uncle and I have a very important family dilemma we have to attend to. And we have to leave right now, it's an emergency." he claimed in a slightly rushed tone.

"But my brother's going to be here soon! Surely you can stay for just a few more minutes. You can't leave yet!" Linda protested.

Marty hesitantly stood up, as did Doc. "I'm really sorry, but it's really important that we're there. We have to get going. Thank you so much for the meal, though. It was really delicious." Marty said to a dazed Lorraine and Linda.

He took out a $5 bill from his pocket and handed it to Lorraine. She refused to take it and shook her head, but Marty didn't move. Doc smiled and nodded behind him in support. After a minute, she reluctantly nodded and accepted it. "Thank you."

"Maybe in the near future we'll come back, when Dave's actually here." Marty suggested.

"But..." Linda started to complain.

"Okay, but just don't forget." Lorraine said with a serious expression, and a teasing smile emerged from the corner of her lips when Marty and Doc stood there awkwardly.

She placed a gentle hand on Linda's shoulder as she continued. "I'm just joking. You are both welcome to come visit again any time you want, whenever you have the time. I won't hold anything against you if you can't, or if it might be a while from now, and I'm sure David and Linda won't as well."

"I won't, but Dave might..." Linda mumbled to herself.

"It's just unfortunate that you have to leave so soon... but I suppose this is a goodbye then, for now." Lorraine finished.

Linda sighed, then nodded in understanding. "Alright, then. I guess we can't hold you guys back, especially from important family matters. I'll just tell Dave you came."

Marty nodded with a smile as he and Doc walked over to the door.

"Bye, Michael. Bye, Mr. Fox. Hope you can come visit again soon!" Lorraine and Linda called as they waved to them.

"Bye, and thanks again!" Marty and Doc waved back to them as they exited the house.

Marty turned back once they were a few feet away and took one last look at their house. "So what do you think, Doc? About them."

"I think they're a fine family, Marty." Doc replied with a smile as they started down the sidewalk. "I do, however, feel sorry about your parents' separation."

"Yeah, me too. But hey, at least they're still together in our universe." Marty replied as he glanced down at his shoes. "So what should we do now?"

Doc shrugged. "Is there anything else you'd like to see?"

Suddenly, Marty remembered the list of addresses in his pocket. He quickly pulled it out and scanned through the names again.

Doc glanced over his shoulder. "Who are you looking for?"

"I'm just looking through all the _McFly_s. It looks like Jorge McFly's the only one that lives on this street." Marty replied, as he looked down the road. "But it's weird."

"What is?"

Marty glanced back down at the paper. "These are all the _McFly_s in town but my dad's not on here. And I doubt he's changed his last name. Do you think he moved?"

Doc nodded slowly. "It's plausible."

"Well, I want to go find this 'Jorge McFly' and ask him." Marty said with a determined look. "His house must be down the street somewhere."

"Marty!" Doc suddenly reprimanded him. "It would be quite preposterous to simply knock on the door of their house and ask them such questions! We are complete strangers, and not to mention who knows what type of law enforcement they have in this outlandish society? Remember, even if we are in an alternate universe, we must not forget to use our common sense."

"Aw, come on Doc!" Marty protested. "There's no chance of us messing with our futures, or pasts, or anything. I say we give it a shot. I mean, how else are we gonna find out who _Jorge McFly _is? Or where my dad is? I really wanna know."

Doc was silent for a few seconds, before sighing and nodding slowly in agreement. "Alright, Marty. We can look for Jorge McFly's house, but we can't be seen by anybody. The last thing we need is to be caught waiting outside somebody's home without any obvious intention."


End file.
